Monday, 31 October 2011

An ex-Scout volunteer, whose sex attacks on young boys remained a secret for up to forty years, has been jailed after three victims eventually exposed his seedy past.

Keith David Cutler, 57, (pictured) of Knowles Close, West Drayton, Middlesex received four years at Harrow Crown Court and was placed on the sex offenders register for life.

He pleaded guilty to ten counts of indecent assault committed between 1971 and 1980 and two counts of possessing indecent photos of children, relating to stashes of 238 and 45 images.

Detective Constable David Gill of the Metropolitan Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Command said: “This is a historic case going back thirty years.

“For a period of nine years, Keith Cutler used his position of trust to abuse vulnerable boys during their childhood and adolescence.

“The victims in this case have suffered unimaginably for many years. I would like to pay tribute to their immense courage in coming forward, and their overwhelming bravery throughout this investigation.

“We take all allegations of rape and sexual assault extremely seriously regardless of the circumstances and how long ago the offences took place.

“I would also like take this opportunity to appeal to any further victims of Keith Cutler or any rape and sexual assault, to contact police.

“All calls will be treated confidentially. We will ensure that victims receive the maximum support possible and be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.”

On March 19, last year police were contacted by a man in his 40’s to report he had been sexually assaulted as a boy for five years by Cutler.

On one occasion, the victim had been sexually assaulted by Cutler whilst away on a Scouts camping trip.

The defendant was arrested on May 15 and interviewed by police, who also searched his home and found 238 child sex images.

The second victim came forward, resulting in Cutler’s arrest again and another search found 45 images.

He was charged and media publicity prompted the third victim to report Cutler’s abuse.

Sunday, 30 October 2011

A fraudster has admitted trying to convince police over $10,000 cash found by a train cleaner was his.

Phillip Cragg, 30, of Kittiwake House, High Street, Slough was tipped-off to the potential claim by a First Great Western Railway employee, but his inconsistent account quickly alerted police.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to commit fraud by false representation, namely claiming the $10,300 cash was his at Paddington Station on June 16 and was bailed until November 14 for probation reports.

City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard a cleaner handed in the lost money, found on a stationary train, to a police community support officer at Paddington Station (pictured) on June 9.

British Transport Police (BTP) deposited the cash in a Barclays Bank lost property account.

On June 16 the defendant telephoned BTP in Birmingham, claiming he had left the cash behind on a Maidenhead to Paddington train.

“The operator advised him that he should contact Paddington Station lost property office and was told he would have to provide proof of ownership,” said prosecutor Miss Rav Chodha.

“The defendant then called back later, saying he had negative feedback from lost property, and arrangements were made to discuss matters with BTP at Paddington.

“The defendant attended to claim the money, but due to the large amount involved and inconsistencies in his account it was decided he should return the following day with proof of ownership.”

Cragg failed to attend the second meeting and was arrested during a dawn raid at his home on June 23.

“The defendant fully admitted the offence, saying he received a call from a friend who worked for First Great Western that ten thousand dollars had been found at Paddington Station,” added Miss Chodha.

“He admitted the conspired to unlawfully claim the lost money, which they planned to split fifty fifty.

“The defendant said he had to do it because his friend was a member of the railway staff.”

Saturday, 29 October 2011

A Ghanaian student, jailed for a bogus marriage scam, will almost certainly be allowed to remain in the UK under the Human Rights Act after having three children with at least two different men.

Lawrencia Mintah, 32, of Dovehouse Mead, Barking, supported her fraudulent application with forged British Gas bills and wage slips, purporting to show she lived with her new husband.

She was jailed for nine months at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) on yesterday along with jobless security guard Joseph Brown, 30, of Powis Square, Notting Hill, who received the same sentence.

"She became desperate to stay in this country and she accepts this was a sham marriage," her lawyer Miss Tanya Murshed told the court.

"She did not know she has a good chance, based on her daughter being a British citizen, of regularising her stay and obtaining leave to remain.

"She has found the whole thing extremely traumatic and regrets her actions."

No deportation order has been served on Mintah, who was facing the prospect of a seven-year sentence. Brown could have received fourteen years.

Mintah pleaded guilty to obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception and perjury, namely falsely naming her new husband as the father of her second child so the one year-old could get British citizenship.

Brown pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration.

Prosecutor Miss Joanna Burdett said Mintah entered the UK on October 12, 2004 to study for a nursing diploma and successfully extended her visa in 2005 and 2007.

It was due to expire in May, 2008 and the defendants married on February 12 that year, with Mintah applying for leave to permanently remain based on her marriage to a British citizen.

Meanwhile, she was living with a fellow Ghanaian illegal immigrant and Brown with his girlfriend of ten years and their four year-old son.

On May 19, last year Mintah submitted five forged British Gas bills in support of her application, which falsely showed the couple living at the same address coupled with bogus wage slips from Brown's employer.

The UK Border Agency also discovered Mintah, on September 27, last year falsely named Brown as the father of her second child at Islington Registry Office.

She also had a six year-old daughter and five week-old son.

"Brown said he did it as a favour for Mintah and said there was no financial gain," explained Miss Burdett.

"Mintah claimed she fell in love with Brown and lied that he was the father so her daughter could have British citizenship."

Brown's lawyer Mr. James Murray-Smith said: "He was asked to do this, knowing her for six months, feeling he was being helpful to someone who needed assistance.

"There was no financial gain and after turning up and getting married he returned to his family. At the time he did not think he was doing anything wrong."

Judge Ruth Downing told the pair: "You have sought to undermine, subvert and avoid legitimate controls in this country. To enter into a sham marriage is a most serious offence.

"You, Brown, willingly went to the registry office and pretended to be entering into a legitimate marriage.

"You, Mintah, obtained false documentation to show you lived with Brown and maintained that fictitious account when interviewed."

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

A convicted child sex offender, who was caught driving an under-age boy home from a skate park in the middle of the night, had up to 1.5 million indecent images on his computer when police searched his home.

Paedophile Paul Pelletier, 64, of Stanhope Road, Beckenham breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) by having unsupervised contact with the youngster and was jailed for nine months.

At Croydon Crown Court (pictured) last Friday Pelletier, since freed from that sentence, was given a twelve-month community order after pleading guilty to twelve counts of possessing indecent images.

The court heard police seized a computer tower and separate hard drive from his address and after identifying 46,772 child sex images decided not to investigate the remaining files.

“The hard drive had significantly more images on it and the total number of files was one –and-a-half million, but only some were examined,” said prosecutor Mr. Frederick Ferguson.

The twelve sample counts Pelletier admitted included boys under ten years old engaging in oral and anal sex, plus mutual masturbation.

One scene involved a five year-old boy with an adult male and other images included boys aged approximately fourteen to seventeen engaged in a variety of sexual activity.

A total of fifty moving images were found and the remainder were still images, with 355 of them at Level Four – the second highest category of obscenity.

In February 2005 Pelletier was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment for similar offences and made subject to the SOPO, which he breached when driving the young boy to the skate park and back home again to his mother.

Judge Ruth Downing told the online music memorabilia trader: “You pleaded guilty to looking at indecent images of young boys participating in sexual activity amongst themselves and to some extent with adults.

“I would hesitate to venture an opinion as to whether that means you wish to have sex with young boys or by looking at photos you somehow deal with that desire.

“There is not a shred of evidence you have approached young boys for sex, but that does not mean I do not understand the genuine fears there are that people can worm their way into other peoples families.

“You did take a young lad off to a skateboard park in the middle of the night and that was a foolish thing to do, but there is no evidence of any sexual motivation at that time.”

As a condition of his community order Pelletier was ordered to attend a community sex offenders group work programme and he must sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

A new five-year SOPO was made prohibiting the defendant from communicating with a child aged under sixteen via the internet or telephone; ordering him to notify the police of his vehicle’s registration and only use the internet for lawful recreation.

Monday, 24 October 2011

An Eastcote arms dealer, wanted in the United States for smuggling weapons, told an extradition hearing on today: “I am a human being and do not deserve to be torn away from my family to some federal penitentiary for the rest of my life.”

Father-of-two Guy Denon Savage, 42, of Daymer Gardens, told District Judge Nicholas Evans at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court: “The court should show the same deference and dignity for my life as you hold your own.

The United States government are seeking to extradite Savage for trial and he will learn his fate on November 30 when District Judge Evans will give his written ruling.

Representing himself during the all-day hearing Savage challenged the extradition on multiple grounds including medical, lawfulness and that it was a breach of his human rights, including the right to family life.

“The United States have failed to show there is a case and if there is no case in the USA there is no case for extradition,” added Savage, who failed to have the entire hearing adjourned to pursue a High Court appeal.

“I have been denied every opportunity for fairness in these proceedings,” he added.

“I have not been asked a single question about the indictment except after I had been shot at, beaten up, had the stuffing knocked out of me and asked if I consented to these proceedings. My answer was: ‘No’.”

Savage constantly clashed with District Judge Evans after his request for another adjournment was refused.

“You are very nearly in contempt of court. Please move on,” asked the judge. “I have made the ruling you can appeal it later.”

When asked by the defendant if he stood by his oath of office District Judge Evans told Savage: “I find the question impertinent. Let’s move on.”

Savage has made a Habeus Corpus application in the USA and served a writ on the US government, but the court refused to hear further details.

Savage complained: “You will not allow me to proceed properly. These matters will be passed to the High Court. All I have asked is for the court to recognises statutes it is obliged to under law.”

He also complained about the costs of bringing professional witnesses to give evidence on his behalf. “Justice is only available in the court if I am able to pay for it.

“I am not a lawyer, I am a free man trying to exercise my rights here,” added Savage. “This is a vindictive prosecution on behalf of the US authorities.

“They want to prosecute me because it is in their financial interests to do so.”

He told the court the two things that stopped him committing suicide after his arrest was the fact it was his father’s birthday and the prospect of leaving his two daughters fatherless.

Savage handed in a 140-page and 70-page argument objecting to his extradition to the court along with a confidential medical report by Dr. Susan Thompson on mental health grounds.

Sunday, 23 October 2011

A sales manager with a steel pipe company - who cheated the taxman out of £640,000 by smuggling cheap Chinese-manufactured parts - has dodged prison with a suspended sentence.

Michael Kirk, 42, of Middlecot Close, Orrell, Wigan played a key role in providing paperwork, which supported the scam, masterminded by his ex-boss who has fled the country.

"You were very much the first port of call for the dishonest information provided to Customs and Excise," Croydon Crown Court Recorder Phillip Sapsford QC told first-time offender Kirk.

"Your firm gained an unfair advantage over those who complied with the rules," he added, sentencing the defendant to twelve months imprisonment, suspended for a year, and ordering him to perform 100 hours community service.

Kirk pleaded guilty to being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of duty payable on goods said to be from Japan between January 1, 2003 and July 31, 2006 and goods said to be from India between February 1, 2006 and January 31, 2008.

The parts were subject to a 58.6% tax - nicknamed 'anti-dumping duty' - imposed to thwart importers unfairly undercutting rivals within the EU.

The company, Ashby Scott Ltd. of Unit A, Shell Green Estate, Gorsey Industrial Estate, Widnes was convicted on the same two counts.

Company director John Sutton, 64, of Cheriton Fitzpaine, Crediton, Devon and Park Farm House, Newton St. Margarets, Hereford was also found guilty in his absence.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest and he is believed to be hiding somewhere in Canada.

Kirk's lawyer Mr. Graham Robinson told the court: "He is a hardworking man and before he foolishly got himself involved in this, a thoroughly decent man."

Kirk is now a 25% shareholder in Ashby Scott Manufacturing Ltd. - netting £2,300 per month and with £2,200 monthly out-goings.

His only real asset is the family home he shares with his wife and 15 year-old daughter.

"Mr. Kirk as an employee received no direct benefit," added Mr. Robinson. "He was persuaded by Mr. Sutton that the tax would be paid.

"Unfortunately there were problems in Mr. Sutton's markets, particularly Iran, that resulted in the disappearance of his markets. Everybody's understanding was that Mr, Sutton, through his companies, was going to pay."

A total of £175,000 tax has now been paid.

"It was as a result of your information that the customs tariffs were completed and the duty evaded," Recorder Sapsford told Kirk.

"However, in certain circumstances you always deferred to Mr. Sutton and you were let down by the company and Mr. Sutton."

Kirk was also fined £10,000 with the alternative of six months' imprisonment and was ordered to pay £10,000 costs within three years.

The sentencing of Sutton and the company was adjourned until December 12.

At the start of the trial prosecutor Mr. Julian Christopher QC told the jury: "It's about smuggling. Smuggling comes in all shapes and sizes and one type is the smuggling of Chinese pipe fittings."

To protect European manufacturers the European Commission agreed to impose the tax on carbon steel imports from China.

"The country outside the EU is dumping its products at an artificial price into the EU," said the QC.

The court was told between 2003 and 2008 Ashby Scott Ltd. avoided over £640,000 duty in relation to thirty-one importation's the defendants claimed had come from Japan and India.

"None of that was paid because the pipe fittings were not sent directly from China, but from Japan and later from India," added Mr. Christopher. "The anti-dumping duty ought to have been paid.

The parts were bought from APCO a Chinese/British venture involving a UK company called TFF International - of which Sutton was the managing director and nominated legal representative.

His company had invested $150,000 US into APCO and the Chinese $350,000 US and TFF agreed to handle all the marketing and imports and exports.

The parts were shipped from Dalian, China to Osaka, Japan then immediately re-shipped to Felixstowe and delivered to Ashby Scott Ltd.

She pleaded guilty to the importation of 2.6 kilos of 100% pure cocaine at Gatwick Airport on August 7.

Fazackerley had just flown in from St. Lucia with her daughter’s boyfriend, aged twenty, but the pair were stopped by customs men before boarding their connecting flight to Manchester.

After her handbag tested positive for cocaine Customs retrieved her suitcase and hidden among tins of powdered baby milk and powdered ice tea was the cocaine wrapped in a plastic bag in a plastic container.

Prosecutor Mr. Hamish Reid told Croydon Crown Court: “The defendant, together with a man, arrived in the UK from St. Lucia in transit. They were going to be flying to Manchester.

“They were stopped and initially failed to acknowledge each other.

“She had gone into the green channel and her handbag, when swabbed, gave a reading for cocaine and she said she did not know how that could happen.

“She said she had not been forced to carry anything to the country.

“Her bags were examined and inside were tins of powdered baby milk and powdered ice tea as well as plastic containers,” added Mr. Reid.

After the “swallow size” plastic bag of cocaine was found Fazackerley was arrested along with her daughter’s boyfriend who also had traces of cocaine on his luggage.

“She said she had financial problems. She ran a hairdressing salon that was in some difficulty,” explained the prosecutor.

“She was sent to St. Lucia knowing she would be carrying back something illegal in her bags, she knew it would be drugs, but not what drugs.”

Her daughter’s boyfriend was also quizzed, but eventually released without charge.

“He said she received telephone calls in St. Lucia and would walk away from him and would go away on her own.”

The boyfriend, a St. Lucian native, claimed he travelled to the island to visit his mother, but bad weather made this impossible.

Fazackerley told investigators she was happy to travel with him because he knew the island well.

She was charged the same day at Crawley Police Station and immediately pleaded guilty the following morning before Mid Sussex magistrates.

“As a courier she is anticipating a custodial sentence,” Fazackerley’s lawyer Mr. Nick Brown told the court. “She started a hairdressing salon that went bad.

“She has personal debts of two to three thousand pounds and started the business in very tough conditions.”

The first-time offender has daughters aged fifteen and sixteen from her first marriage and a four year-old daughter from her second marriage, which was described as “violent and controlling.”

“She was at rock bottom when approached by a man on Facebook to take something back from St. Lucia and he paid for the tickets,” added Mr. Brown.

“She has seen first hand the effects drugs can have on people, being in prison and with hindsight would never have got involved.”

Judge John Tanzer told Fazackerley: “The only possible sentence that can be passed is an immediate custodial sentence.

“You are a woman who has a number of difficulties.

“Any time you spend in custody will feel a long time with your medical problems and being kept away from your family.

Friday, 21 October 2011

A mini-cab driver who reversed into two boozy women - one of whom was an off-duty police officer - when they failed to pay the full fare during a night out in Croydon has been banned for dangerous driving today.

Pakistani father-of-three Hamad Bhatti, 42, had driven the women to their destination and admits in "one moment of madness" reversing into them during the 4am dispute.

Croydon Crown Court (pictured) heard the women threw what money they had onto the front seat, but it was short of the full fare.

First-time offender Bhatti, denied, but was convicted by a jury of dangerous driving and was sentenced to a twelve month community order, including 200 hours community service work and disqualified for a year.

"They were out enjoying themselves and had a few drinks," Recorder Phillip Sapsford QC told Bhatti. "The jury disbelieved you, what you told the jury was not the truth.

"You are now going to look for a new form of work.

"When I first considered this case I thought it was worthy of imprisonment. One of the victims said she could taste blood and felt something warm down her face.

"They were certain you reversed into them."

Bhatti will also have to pass the extended driving test before his licence is returned.